Mr Wuffles! by David Wiesner
Random House Australia, 2014. ISBN 9781849397803.
(Age: All ages) 'Look, Mr Wuffles, a new toy!' But with that look of
disdain that cats have, Mr Wuffles stalks past the new toy and all
his old toys - his mind is focused on playing with a tiny spaceship
he has spotted! Turning it this way and that determined to find out
what's inside, he doesn't realise that it is inhabited by teeny-tiny
aliens and he is causing them a great deal of distress and damaging
their precious machine, not to mention scaring the daylights out of
them as his eyes peer in the slit. The aliens eventually escape and,
taking parts with them, seek refuge under the radiator where Mr
Wuffles can't reach to try to regain their equilibrium and repair
their craft. But there are other inhabitants behind the walls of the
house - a menagerie of bugs who, thankfully, are friendly and who,
having had their own 'adventures' with the cat which are cleverly
depicted as 'cave paintings', understand the aliens' plight and help
repair the spaceship in ingenious ways. Sneaking hurriedly back to
the craft, narrowly avoiding those nasty claws, the aliens escape,
leaving Wiesner to create the most delightful ending imaginable. You
don't need words to know what Mr Wuffles is thinking. He is a cat
with attitude which is why the title is followed by an exclamation
mark.
This is another remarkable masterpiece by triple Caldecott Medal
winner (awarded for the most distinguished children's picture book).
Creator of such wonderful stories as Tuesday, The Three
Pigs and Flotsam (his three Caldecott winners), the
story behind the creation of Mr Wuffles is a story in itself
beginning 20 years ago when he created a cover for Cricket magazine.
In that, he depicted the landing of aliens in a sandbox, and he
'liked the idea of the relationship between the child who found
these little guys in his sandbox, and how they could get along even
though they spoke different languages.' The concept stayed with him
and had various incarnations over the years but nothing worked to
his satisfaction until one day while waiting for his daughter at
music class . . .
While it is almost wordless if you are looking for words in English,
there is a great deal of conversation between the aliens and then
between the aliens and the bugs, all meticulously crafted on a
formula based on fractions and devised in collaboration with a
linguist. 'The words Wiesner's little green men speak resemble what
might be inadvertently produced by someone typing rows of numbers
with the shift key left on'. The bugs have their own language too -
testament to the attention to detail that has gone into this book.
Wiesner even followed his own cat (ironically named Cricket which is
where the story started) around his home with a camera on a long
pole so he could get a cat's eye-view of things.
There is nothing that I can say about this book that hasn't been
said already by reviewers of much greater standing than I, and an
Internet search will bring up many, as well as YouTube clips,
activities and a host of other references including the story behind
the story
and an article
or just watch Youtube.
This book is one for preschool to secondary - it is so full of
riches. Beyond the story itself, there is the story of unusual
friendships; the debate about being on the cat's side or the aliens'
side; the opportunity to develop secret language codes; the
examination of perspective to create and influence meaning . .
. it is a treasury of visual literacy opportunities.
Not being a 'cat person' I thought this review copy would be one I
would pass on to a more welcoming home, but no. It will become an
essential tool in my teaching kit.
Barbara Braxton